Perfect Cider and Food Pairings

“Cider is an extension of the dinner table – and sometimes the lunch table … and perhaps brunch table – and, like the food we prepare and eat, letting the cider speak for itself is what we enjoy the most.” Eric Cioffi, Courthouse Creek Cider

Courthouse Creek Cider

“Over the Top” hopped cider, bottle conditioned with unsulfured molasses and doused with a blend of hops – paired with Brunswick stew or other hearty fall soup or stew and a chunk of warm, homemade bread with butter

Blue Bee Cider

Orchard Potluck Smoked Stayman Winesap cider, apple flavors complemented by distinct smoky notes – paired with sweet and sour barbecue, pork carnitas or smoked gouda cheese

Rocky Ridge Reserve cider, aged in fruit brandy barrels – paired with French onion soup, Gruyere or roasted chicken

Orchard Potluck Saison cider, fermented with a spicy, fruity yeast – paired with root vegetables, goat cheese or quiche

Bold Rock

India Pressed Apple (IPA) cider, dry hopped to complement the Granny Smith apple bite – paired with seared pork tenderloin glazed with a Bold Rock IPA cider reduction

Buskey

RVA Cider, full apple taste and lightly back-sweetened – paired with pork dishes or spicy foods

RVA Cider reduction: Use the RVA Cider in cooking by making a reduction with Serrano peppers, used as a glaze on a Boston butt as it smokes

Potter’s Craft Cider

Farmhouse Saison, bottle conditioned and presenting a bright flavor and aromatic hints of lemon peel and coriander – paired with briny Rappahannock River Oysters

Oak Barrel Reserve, aged in oak apple brandy barrels from nearby Laird & Co. – paired with sheep and goat’s milk cheese from Twenty Paces Dairy in Charlottesville

Potter’s Aperol Spritz

3 ounces Potter’s Craft Cider Farmhouse Dry

2 ounces Aperol

Splash of soda water

Mix the first two ingredients in an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. Top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with an orange slice.